Staff
Nicole Myers-Mitchell
Finance Administrator. Nicole Myers-Mitchell was born and raised in Wallaceburg, a small town between Windsor and London, Ontario. She has worked professionally in theatre for over 15 years, passionately advancing Canadian Theatre in roles such as Associate Producer and Interim Managing Director for Roseneath Theatre, General Manager of Shakespeare in the Ruff, Manager of Communication and Enrichment for Peggy Baker Dance Projects and Volcano Theatre, and Development Coordinator for Opera Atelier.
Nicole lives in Fenelon Falls with her fabulous husband Chris and very smart son Max.
Allison Bjerkseth
Production and Facilities Manager. A graduate of the University of Windsor. She has recently made Fenelon Falls her home and is thrilled to be able to work in her new community. Allison’s recent theatre credits include: Creative Participant: Six Acts (Prague Quadrennial). Assistant Stage Manager: The Hobbit & Brundibar (Canadian Children’s Opera Company), Menopause The Musical (Shaggypup Productions, National Tour). Stage Manager: Cold Comfort & Port Authority (Fly on the Wall), Seasons (SolExpress), Spirit Horse & Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls & Outside (Roseneath Theatre), Self Portrait/OMNI (Angela Blumberg Dance) Mistatim (Red Sky Performance). Production Stage Manager: MacBeth, Romeo & Juliet and Twelfth Night (Classical Theatre Project) Company Manager: Grease the Musical (Grease Toronto), Menopause The Musical (Shaggypup Productions, National Tour).
Stacey Sherwood
Patron Experience Manager. Stacey developed a deep affection for Fenelon Falls as a seasonal resident, cherishing family holidays at their Sturgeon Lake cottage since the early 1980s. She is delighted to now be living on the lake permanently and living out her empty-nester dream alongside her husband and two cats. Bringing a diverse skill set and professional experience in operations management, product distribution, advertising, and food service, Stacey is eager to contribute her knowledge and experience to The Grove Theatre. With over 30 years of expertise in customer service management and business ownership, Stacey is passionate about being a part of the Fenelon Falls community, firmly believing that "the best way to know your community is to serve it."
Eugenia Catroppa
Administrative Assistant. Born and raised in Windsor Ontario, Eugenia began her arts administration career through the Sears’ Drama Festival, and as a Site Manager for the Riverfront Children’s Theatre. She went on to complete a BFA in Fine Arts from York University where she graduated with Honours and an Award in Arts Administration/Stage Management for her work producing community events as an elected member of the University’s student government arts organizations.
Eugenia has worked for a variety of arts organizations in Toronto, Ontario as an administrator, creative producer, and costume designer. Her live music series: The Wheel, ran for ten years in Toronto and featured art, fashion, masquerades, and live music in venues including El Mocambo, The Majlis Theatre and the first ever Samhain event in Dundas Square which had approximately 13,000 people attend.
Eugenia is delighted to bring her energy and experience to The Grove Theatre, an organization whose vision and values she is proud to be a part of.
Board of Directors
Heather Ahrens
Director. Heather is in her 10th year of being a REALTOR® and has successfully achieved top producer status throughout her impressive career. As a long-time Kawartha Lakes' resident, she has given hundreds of clients white-glove service to both buy and sell properties, while always providing an outstanding experience. Heather is a dedicated professional and is community minded, always going the extra mile to give back to the place she lives.
Her 23 years of experience in retail and management enable strong communication and organizational skills, and ensures that clients are comfortable in the real estate process. Heather has also received high honours and joined the "RE/MAX Hall of Fame" representing her consistent top performance.
Lynne Manning
Chair. Lynne Manning is the Chair of the Fenelon Falls Downtown Revitalization and a Member of the Downtown Revitalization Advisory Committee. As Board Chair, she feels that The Grove Theatre project aligns perfectly in energizing economic development, business collaboration and tourism, and provides a unique outdoor entertainment venue for the community.
Lynne is the former Managing Director of Kelly Services Canada, an International Employment Company, with 55 offices across Canada. Lynne formerly served as a Board Member of the Public Policy Forum, is the former Chair, Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, also serving as the Chair of the Fund Development Committee, and the former Chair of Fund Development for Women’s Resources.
Sue Milling
Director. Sue Milling, a long-time local summer resident with family roots in Lindsay, is thrilled to join the Board in further developing the vision of the Grove Theatre as a centre of entertainment and learning. Sue brings a love of live theatre and the power of storytelling as well as experience in the entertainment industry.
Past Executive Director of ACTRA Toronto and Co-Chair of FilmOntario, Sue assisted three presidents, councils and staff through transformative and challenging times, including the #MeToo movement in 2017, Black Lives Matter in 2020 and helped the industry and union adapt quickly to the COVID pandemic. Sue is currently working as a consultant.
David Prosser
Director. Born in Scotland, David came to Canada in 1975 to pursue a master’s degree at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. It was there that he met his future wife, Barbara, and once they’d done a show together, there was no going back.
After a brief stint as an actor and publicist with Theatre 5 in Kingston, David was hired by Canada’s oldest daily newspaper, The Whig-Standard. Over the next 14 years, he won five Nathan Cohen Awards for theatre criticism, three National Newspaper Awards for critical and editorial writing, and a Centre for Investigative Journalism Award for his secret mission to Soviet-occupied Afghanistan – a story recounted in full in his 1986 book Out of Afghanistan.
In 1991, he was awarded a Southam Fellowship to study at the University of Toronto’s Massey College, and in 1994 he left journalism to join the staff of the Stratford Festival. As Literary and Editorial Director, he oversaw the festival’s vast range of day-to-day communications, as well as its commemorative coffee-table books Fifty Seasons at Stratford (2002) and Stratford Behind the Scenes (2012). In 2007 he ghost-wrote former Artistic Director Richard Monette’s book of memoirs, This Rough Magic.
David also appeared in and directed a handful of dramatic readings at the festival, including three scripts of his own devising. By the time he retired in 2020, he had also won a sizable following with his pre-show “Lobby Talks” and as a host and moderator of panels and other ancillary events.
Tim Wisener
Treasurer. Tim Wisener is co-owner of Home by Tim + Chris, a full-service interior design firm located in Fenelon Falls, as well as proprietor of Colborne Street Gallery. He is a significant contributor to the vitality of the Fenelon Falls area, where he spent his summers growing up. Tim has a rich history in the performing arts as Associate Producer of Canadian Stage, Manager of Development of Opera Lyra Ottawa, Director of Client and Patron Service for EPCOR Center for the Performing Arts, and Manager of Artistic Operations for the Alberta Ballet.
Christy Yael
Artistic Director & Co-founder. Christy Yael is the co-founder and Artistic Directors of the award-winning Intrepid Theatre Company, based in San Diego, California. Founded in 2009, Intrepid earned a reputation as one of the top theaters in San Diego. Among other honours, the company received the San Diego Critics Circle’s most prestigious award, “Best Dramatic Production,” three years in a row (an unprecedented achievement for the Critics Circle), and Christy was awarded “Best Director” three years in a row (another first in Critics Circle history). Alongside their mainstage productions, Christy has also created a vibrant and robust education department, which includes summer camp and after-school classes for children ages 6-17 (attended by over 500 children per year); community outreach programs for youth in underrepresented communities (in recent years this included Exiled Voices, a program for teens who are recent refugees, and Perform Peace, a program working with Somali Muslim youth); and a Shakespeare school tour that has brought live performances of Shakespeare plays to more than 100,000 students across Southern California since its inception. Christy is a Canadian, raised in Toronto and spent her summers growing up in Fenelon Falls. She moved to California in 2001 and has recently brought her family back to the community that she loves.